The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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Women are mysterious. That is what men love to say. It is a two-pronged statement: on the one hand, it feels like a compliment. "You are so mysterious! Beguiling, alluring, unknowable...” It makes us feel a little like Greta Garbo. On the other hand, it's a stereotype that perpetuates women as "other." In other words, because we are not men, we are mysterious. We are not the norm. We are strange. "What do women want?" is a common phrase -- and in fact is used to point out that we don't think like men, and men think we are odd. Well, the street goes both ways: we think men are odd. Case in point: Representative Todd Akin.

Todd Akin is odd. He's a whole new level of "other." I can't even begin to understand why he said what he said. If he does not believe in abortion, even in cases of rape, that's his choice. But to qualify rape as "legitimate" or "not legitimate" is crazy and unnecessary. What is illegitimate rape? On top of that, he is the embodiment of the "women are mysterious" view. According to Akin, women’s bodies have special powers. A woman’s uterus can tell when it is being “legitimately” raped.